Sewing-machine.



T. e. PLANT. SEWING MACHINE. APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 6, 1911.

Patented Feb. 20, 1912.

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SEWING MACHINE.

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' SEWING MACHINE. APiLIOATION FILED JUNE 6, 1911.

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T. G. PLANT. SEWING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 6, 1911.

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Patented Feb. 20,1912.

UNITED STATES .PATEN T OFFICE- THOMAS GUSTAVE PLANT, OF BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS,-A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

SEWING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters E's/tent.

Patented Feb. 20, 1912-.

Application filed June 6, 1911. Serial No. 631,646.

To all whom it may concern:

'Be it known that I, THOMAS G. PLANT, a citizen of the -United States,residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts,have invented an Improvement in Sewing-Machines, of which the followingdescription, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is aspecification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

The present invention relates to chain stitch shoe sewing machines ofthat class which employ a curved hooked needle and which are used to sewthe inseam of turned and welted shoes.

In the operation of machines of the class referredto, in sewing aseam,the hooked needle passes forward through the loop of thread previouslydrawn out by the needle and through the work so as to present its emptyhook in position to receive a new s11 ply of thread. The thread is thenlaid 1n the hook of .the needle by means of a looper and the needleretracts, drawing with it a' new loop of thread through the work andthrough the previous loop. These movements of the needle and looper arerepeated in regular sequence during each cycle of operations of themachine. At the completion of the sewing operation it is necessary-thatthe needle be brought to rest out of engagement with the shoe to enablethe shoe which has been sewed to be removed from the ma chine andanother shoe to be placed in the machine in the proper position withrelation to the needle 'and the other operating parts of the machine.Before the shoe can be removed, it is also necessary that the loop ofthread last drawn through the work by the needle be freed from the hookof'the needle and from the other-thread handling devices, if any, whichact upon the needle loop; During the normal operation of the machine-insewing a seam the thread lies in the hook of the needle during theentire re-' I tracting stroke of the needle so that when of the. machinein order :to ires the needle is brought to rest at or near the limit ofits backward stroke sufficiently reand leave the needle at rest inretracted position out of engagement with the shoe.

The object of the present invention is to A. relation to each other andto the work as to offer no obstacle to the immediate removal of the shoefrom the machine when the machine is stopped or any obstacle to theinsertion of another shoe in the' machine in the proper position withrelation to the needle and other operating parts of the machine. Y

With the above object in view, the present invention contemplates theprovision in a chain stitch inseam shoe sewing machine provided with ahooked needle and a looper, .of means whereby at the conclusion of thesewing operation when the machine is stopped, the last needle loop willbe freed from the needle and other stitch forming devices, if any, whichact on the needle loop, ,and the needle will be brought to rest out ofengagement with the work.

Broadly-considered, the invention o0ntemplates the provision of anysuitable means to cause the desired manipulation of the needle loop andneedle at the conclusion of the sewing operation to free the needle.loop from the stitch forming devices and bring the needle to rest sothat neither the thread nor the needle will oflfer any obstacle to theimmediate removal of the shoe from the machine. To avoid the use ofadditional devices to act on the needle loop, the prethe provision ofmeans whereby the needle can "be retracted while its hook is empty. Byretracting the needle without any thread engaged in its hook, the emptyneedle can be brought to rest outof engagement with the work and withits hook free from the last needle loop so that neitherthe needle northe thread will offer anyobstac'le to the immediate removal of the shoe.To still further simplify the construction and avoid the use ofdevicesor mechanism tending to increase the complexity of the operatingpartsofthe machine, the preferred form of the invention 'furthercontemplates securing the retraction of the needle w ile its hook isempty hyta reversal in the cycle of opera -.the machine. Also, to insurethe freeing of the last needle loop from the hook of'the needle, whichis apt to stick therein'by I chanical embodiment of the invention, and.

will be referred to,'as the description-pro ,ceeds, to make clear' thebroad features that characterize the invention without, however,

vati'on of a welter'embo yin the present 1nvent1on,-somuc only- 20i.said reason of the wax on the thread, the preferred form of theinvention contemplates reversing the cycle of operations of the ma chineafter the needle in its forward movement has pierced the work and thelast nee- :dle loop has been pushed out of thebarb of the needle by thecontact of the loop'with the work. j

The drawings accom anyin this descri tion show .a chain stitc 1 machinefor attac i-ng waits to welt shoes as a convenient melimiting theinventionto the means-shown except 1n so far as announced by-theelainis.

In said drawings :'--Fi one form of machine 'being'illustrated as seemsdesirable to make clear. the association of parts pertaining to saidinvention; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the upper [or headv portion.of

the machine withsome of theparts omitted orbroken away; Fig. 3 is adetached detail" "on an enlarged scale showing the operatin connectionsbetween the stop finger slide an its actuating lever; Fig. 4 is adetached side viewv partly in section, showing the hooked or barbedneedle, its ope'rating means, and the position of the needle withrelation to the workwhen-the cycle of operations'of the machine isreversedi 'Fig. 5 is a sectional side elevation on the line 55 Fig. 2,show ing therelation of the parts of the reversing -mechanism when theneedle is in the position indicated in Fig. iwFig. 6 is a view similarte-that of Fig. 4, with the-needle in retracted position; Fig. 7 is aview similar to that of Fig. 5, showing the relation of the p'arts ofthe reversing mechanism when the needle has been brought to rest in-theposi tion indicated in Fig. 6; Figs. 8,9, 10, 11 and 12 are detail viewsillustrating some. what diagrammatically the operations which areperformed at the conclusion of the sewing operationto free the threadfrom the needle and bring the needle to rest out of engagement with theshoe.

The frame of the machine illustrated in the drawings comprises a column1., provided at its upper portion with a plate or support 2, from whichrise arms or standards 3, which arms or standards furnish bearings forthe driving or main shaft 4: from which the'stitch forming devices aactuated. Y

The channel guide 5 of the machine, the awl 6, the looper 7, the threadfinger-8, the

'- welt guide 9, the back rest 10', the back gage 11, the feed slideactuating lever 13 and its operating cam 14 may all be of anypreunnecessary herein.

.19, Connected to the no re 1 is'a side ele ferred constructionand'assembled in operative relation'suitable to the purposes intended;and as these features'of the machine and their operative connection withthe main shaft 4 are well understood by those skilled in the art, adetailed description thereof and their" manner of operation is The-mechanism for sup orting and actusting the needle during. t e, normaloperation'of'the machine in sewing a seam is the same as is commonlyused in this class of machines and comprises a support 15 and'a needlecarrier 16 mounted to. oscillate there on and having secured thereto bya clam 17 a curved needle 18 havin a hook or bar e carrier at 20 is'thelink21 which connects the needle car rier toth'e'cam actuated lever 22pivoted at 2 3 and having an arm 24; carrying a roller 25 en aging witha cam groove 26 in the cam dis 27 secured to. the main shaft 4.

Secured to the driving shaft 4, is one member 28, (Figs. land 2) of aclutch, the

'-loos'e member 29 whereof may bedrivcn from any suitable source ofpower. hub 30 of the clutch member 29 is loosely The engaged by a collar31 connected to the bifurcated arm 32 OfJa'cIutch actuating leverpivotally mounted at 33 and having an arm 34 connected at 35 to atreadle rod 36 which is connected to the starting and stopping treadleof the machine.

As so .far described, the machine illustrated in the drawings does notdiffer essentially from welt sewing machines of the prior art,thestit-c'h forming devices being actuated in regular sequence in theusual .manner so long as the starting'and stopping treadle' is helddepressed and the clutc member 29 in engagement with the member 28. -Toenable theneedle and thread to be put into such condition with relationto,

eachother and to the work as to offer no obstacle to the immediateremoval of the shoe from the machine when the machine is stopped, themachine illustrated in the engagement withjthe shoe, will be clearlyunderstoodfrom an inspection of Figs. 8 to '12 inclusive. In Fig. 8 theneedle isshown as just startin on its forward stroke, at which time, asis clearly shown in the figure, the last needle loop'd is held snugly inthe hook of the needle. Fig. 9 shows the needle as havingadvan-cednearly into engagement with the work, the last needle loop at stillnommp remaining in the hook of the needle on account of the tendency ofthe waxed thread to stick to the needle. In Fig. 10 the needle hascompleted its forward movement and has passed through the last needleloop d,

the welt a, the upper b and the between substance of the insole c. Incase the needle loop at sticks in the hook of the needle, the

loop is brought into engagement with the' surface of the welt a as theneedle pierces the Work and thus pushed out of the hook, so that by nopossibility can the last needle loop be caught by the hook of the needleduring its retracting stroke. After the needle reaches the positionindicated in Fig. the cycle of operations of the machine is reversed sothat the needle is retracted with its hook empty, the retraction takingplace either before the thread has been laid about the needle by thelooper, or after the looper has removed the thread from around theneedle in case the cycle of operations has not been reversed before the.looper has encircled the needle. During its retracting stroke the emptyneedle withdraws from the last needle loop as indicated in Fig. 11 andfinally comes to rest outof engagement with the work as indicated in Fig. 12. From. an inspectionof this figure it will readily be 30 seenthat the needle and thread are in such condition with relation -to eachother and to the work 'as to offer no obstacle to the immediate removalof the shoe from the ma-' chine.

In the machine illustrated in the. drawings, the reversal in the cycleof operations of the machine after the needle has penetrated the work isproduced by means of a coiled spring 39, one end of whichisat- 40-ta-ohed to the inner surface of the fast clutch member 28 at 40 and theother end of which is attached at 38 to the hub of an arm 37 looselymounted upon the driving shaft 4. During the normal operation of themachine in sewing a seam the arm 37 rotates with the fast clutch member28 and shaft 4:. During the last cycle of operations of the machine,however, at the completion of the sewing operation, and after the clutchmember 29has been separated from the member 28, the movement of the arm37 is arrested. Arresting the arm 37 causes the spring 39 to be wound upby the continued rotation of the clutch-member 28 under the influence ofthe machine momentum. Assoon as the momentum of the machine is overcomethe spring 39 unwinds thereby rotating the main shaft 4 of the machinebackward and reversing the cycle of operations of the ma- 60 chine. Themeans for arresting the rotation of the arm 37 consists of a stop arm 46connected to the starting and stopping treadle and arranged to be movedthereby into and out of the path of a shoulder 59 at the outer enlargedend 58 of the arm 37. As indicated the arm 37,

To enable the stop arm 46 to be movedinto and out of the path of theprojection 59 at the outer end of the arm 37, the stop arm is carried bya slide 45 mounted'to move longitudinally on a stud 43, the slide 45 isactuated from the starting and stoppin treadle by means of a connectingrod 5 an a lever 51, the vertical arm 50 of which is provided with astud 49 engaging ln s 48 projecting downwardly from the sli e 45 and thehorizontal arm 56 of whichhas a pin-and-slot connecti n wit-h theconnecting rod 57. This pin-and-slot connection permits the lever 51 tobe moved by means of itsprojecting handle 58 to move the stop. finger 46without actuating the .clutch member 29. i

To assist in bringin the machine to rest after the separation o theclutch members 29 and 28, the machine illustrated'in the drawings isprovided with a suitablebrake in the form of a brake band 62,encircling; the fast clutch member 28. One endofthis band is connectedto a rod 63 adjust-ably secured to the machine frame btheadjust ing andholding nut 65 and t e other end of the band is connected bymeanscf a.link 68 to onearm of an elbow lever 70.- .The other arm of this elbowlever is provided with a roll 72 projecting into the path of a camsurface 73 on the lever 51,3211 arrangement being such thatwhentheRl've'r 51 is actuated in starting the machine, ithe' elbqwi.lever is rocked in a directionftofrelease the pressure of the brake band62. A-spring; 74 connected tothe elbow leve'rf 70 'moiv the lever in a.direction to apply the brak band to the clutch member 28. '1

The nature and scope of the present .in vention havin been indicated,and aQma chine embodying the present invention. in, its preferred formhaving been specifically; described,what is claimed is:-

1. A chain stitch inseam shoe sewing machine, having, incombinatiom-stitch rming devices including a curved hooked needle 1 anda looper and means, acting automatically upon stopping the machine, tofree the last needle loop from the stitch forming de vices and bring theneedle to rest out of engagement with the work.

and a looper' and means, acting automatieally upon stopping the machine,to retract the needle While its'hook is empty'and bring 1 the needleftorest out of engagement withthe-work;

,2 3{-'A-eehain stitch inseam shoe sewing ma -cfhine',j having,ineombinat-ion, stitch formingxlevices including a curved hooked needleand a looper and means, acting aut0meti- .1'0.

eally upon stopping'the machineytereverse the cycle of'o' perations andcausethe' needle to retract. whlle its hookis empty and come to restoutof engagement with the work.v

4. A-chain stitch inseam shoe sewing machine, having', iii-combination,stitch f0rm Copiesfof this patent mayube obtained 01;

ing devices including a eurved hooked needle and a looper and means,operating automatically'upon stopping the machine, tureverse the cycleof operatlons after the needle has .penetxeted the Work and cause theneedle 20 to retract while its hook is empty and come j to rest out of.engagement with the work.- 7 Intestimony whereof, I have signed my nameto this specification, in the presence of five cents each, yaddressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Waishington, I G. e

